Are we STILL talking about AVEs?

Unfortunately, judging by the number of folks that find their way to my blog by searching for “how to calculate AVEs,” we are. So, I suppose the question isn’t so much “are we” as “why are we?” The industry, rightly so, is largely moving away from its use as a measure of anything meaningful.

PR is about so much more than product-related media coverage. And it’s much more than a support function to marketing. We know it’s about relationships (what Grunig refers to as interest group liberalism), trust, corporate social responsibility, reputation etc. All of these can and should be measured not just for measurement sake but to continue to legitimize the profession.

3 responses to “Are we STILL talking about AVEs?”

The answer is, yes, we are. And the problem is, we keep talking to ourselves about it, not the people who are questioning the “value of PR” the CMOs and CFOs. They’re the ones who want to put a quick and easy number on what we do. The problem is that putting a value on PR is easy if you know what you expect PR to do. Too many marketing organizations don’t really understand what PR can do.

Thanks Katie,
Oh, I wouldn’t miss the Measurement Summit for the world. Attended last year and intend to each subsequent year. Indeed, it’s a must see for the measurementarati but also important that clients of measurement be there as well. I suspect the numbers of attendees in that category is increasing, encouragingly.